


I Dug You Up a Rainbow

by orphan_account



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Bagels, Florist Castiel, M/M, Romantic Comedy, Sick Gabriel, and Dr. Death!, everyone is human, except for ichabark, gabriel and meg are super bros, michael and gadreel are done with meg and gabriel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-05
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-19 03:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4731137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriel is just a simple bagel shop employee, living in an adequate apartment with Ichabark Crane, the greatest jack russell terrier to ever live.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. in which gabriel is at least 3% sure he's dying

Gabriel shuffled out of bed reluctantly in the morning, his snooze button had been pressed more than it should have, and he was almost guaranteed to be late. He decided to skip his usual morning shower, and instead took the time to actually comb his hair. He made damn sure he put on extra deodorant and some cologne, just to be safe.

He grabbed one of the double chocolate chip muffins he'd baked over the weekend and a bottle of apple juice on his way out the door. His jack russel terrier was still sleeping on the couch, unaffected by Gabriel's frantic morning efforts to leave as soon as possible. Gabriel's feet were slipped inside a pair of shoes, but they were not properly on as he made his way through the hallway and to the back elevator.

Gabriel jumped out of the elevator the moment the doors opened, revealing the third story of the parking garage. He had to rack his brains a bit to remember exactly where he had left his car the day before. He looked around to see if anyone else was present before slipping his keys out of his pocket and pressing the car alarm button. The honking wasn't far away, much to his relief.

He waddled as quickly as he could to his car, trying not to lose his shoes, wondering why in the hell he didn't put them on properly during the elevator ride down. He unlocked his car using the key fob as he approached, doing everything he could to get to the car quicker. He dropped himself into the driver's seat, placing the apple juice in his cup holder and peeling the double chocolate chip muffin's baking paper cup off as he wiggled and pushed his feet into the shoes. He started his car, leaving his breakfast resting on his left thigh.

He drove from his spot and down and out of the parking garage, discovering that traffic was not as backed up as it could have been. The current construction zones were not occupied by workers yet. He looked at the clock on his radio, and judged that he had roughly 17 minutes to get to work.

When he arrived at work, everything was fine. He was hardly late, it was only three minutes, and his manager wouldn't mind that he was late. Gabriel occasionally stayed after hours to help clean up anyway.

"You're lucky we haven't hit the morning rush yet," Meg said from her end of the counter, where she was busy slicing bagels in half, readying them for the cascade of people that came in around 7. Gabriel tied his brown and gold apron in the back; it was exactly like every other employee's apron at Noshville Bagels.

"Jeez, I'm hardly even late. When was the last time I was late, anyway?" He pretended to count on his fingers. "It was at least two days ago," he busied himself making sure all of the cream cheese containers were at least 1/4 full and in their proper places. Meg shook her head.

"That was lame, even for you."

"I know. I think I'm having a bit of an off day."

By noon, there were pinpricks crawling across every part of his skin, alternating between too hot and freezing stabs. The beginnings of pain were starting to make themselves at home in every crook of his body, especially around the joints he found himself using most. Gabriel had also started sniffling every few minutes, even though his nose felt rather dry.

The end of his shift rolled around at three, like it always did on week days. Michael hadn't shown up to relieve him, and Gadreel had only relieved Meg two minutes ago. Gabriel couldn't even hold the cream cheese spreader at this point, his wrists begged him not to twist them anymore, and his fingers were increasingly stiff and numb. He asked Gadreel if he would mind slicing and spreading  _and_ ringing up the bagels for customers (only three were in line at the moment).

Gabriel shivered and ducked into the back, tapping the office doorframe, which sent a curious, unwelcome feeling through his hand. "Raphael?"

"Yes?" He opened the door swiftly, his stony face immediately shifting to concern. Gabriel looked awful.

"I'm so sorry that this is such short notice, but I don't think I will be able to come in tomorrow," his words were slightly shaky. The denim of his jeans and the stiff, thin fabric of his shirt felt like sandpaper against his skin.

"No, of course not," Raphael's tone was soft and understanding, a complete 180 from his usual low, authoritative tone. "I can take your place tomorrow, it's no trouble. Meg and I will be fine without you for the day."

"Thank you," Gabriel nodded and walked away, pressure building up in his head and making him a little dizzy as he stepped out of his workplace. He sat in his car, which had heated up from the summer weather. He groaned and started the engine, rolling the windows down.

He hit construction on the way home, ending up towards the back of the line of vehicles waiting for the sign holder to flip the sign from "STOP" to "SLOW." Gabriel tilted his head back onto the headrest, feeling a bit defeated. He quickly realized that that didn't feel very good on his neck; his lymph nodes were swollen and tender. His hands were sweating all over the steering wheel.

In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to be back in his apartment, sprawled on his bed.

The line started moving again, and the sign flipped back to "STOP" just as he reached the front. "Fuck," he swore, irritated and miserable.

"Sorry, pal," the man holding the sign looked at him, some sort of mild sympathy in his expression. He had some of the greenest eyes Gabriel had ever seen, and his whole face was flecked in freckles from long days working under the sun. "You don't look so great."

"Thanks, I didn't shower today," his voice came out dry, and his lips just barely made it into a smile.

"That's not what I mea-"

"I know. I probably look about as shitty as I feel," Gabriel reassured him he wasn't offended. He gave the construction worker the best smile he could muster before reaching to mess with the radio. He let it be on some station playing Jimi Hendrix. A few more minutes passed, but they felt like an eternity because of the awful state of his entire being. The green eyed man finally flipped the sign back to "SLOW" and Gabriel praised the lord above, letting his foot off the brake and gradually accelerating.

The rest of the trip back to his apartment was better, with only a few red lights and no major traffic. It wasn't quite the post workday rush yet.

Gabriel didn't bother grabbing anything from his car besides the keys from the ignition. He locked the car and dragged himself to apartment 7E, another cold sweat spreading over him during the trek. He unlocked the apartment door with reluctant fingers, and decided maybe a little bath wouldn't hurt anything.

He patted his pocket, making sure his phone was still in it, before going into the bathroom.

Gabriel stripped out of his bagel shop scented clothes and draped a towel over the edge of the tub. He sat down and started running the taps, searching for something to watch on his phone while the tub filled.

He lowered himself carefully into the water, letting out jagged puffs of air between his lips at the discomfort of the too-hot water. Gabriel pressed play on the TV show. He couldn't really help but notice how much lint and hair, and to his grossed out surprise, dog hair, was floating around in the water. He hadn't bothered rinsing the tub; how dirty could a bathtub really be from one person's regular showers?

Apparently they could be quite nasty. He locked his phone and set it on the floor next to the tub. Between the cleanliness of the water he was seated in and his inability to find any semblance of solace or comfort, he stood up and pulled the plug. He started the shower and flinched when the streams set to "massage" him pelted him, feeling like a bunch of wasps. Was nothing sacred? He quickly twisted the shower head so a regular, non waspy stream came down on him. He tried to relax in it, but it was difficult.

He tipped his head under the water, wetting down all of his hair. He reached for his shampoo, squeezing some into his hands. Gabriel tried his best to be gentle washing his own head, but no matter how much he tried, he swore he could feel every follicle in the most unpleasant manner possible. He rinsed out the shampoo and decided that was a valiant enough attempt for one day. He used his bare hands with liquid body wash, which still managed to be mildly distressing for his aching body. He was relieved to shut the water off more than any other time he could recall once all the remains of soap were down the drain.

He wrapped himself in a clean towel, patting himself down and drying off completely. He padded back to his room, the central air chill of his apartment creating goosebumps all over his skin again. He closed his bedroom door and pulled on a pair of flannel pajama pants, remembering the way his dad taught him to break a fever.

He exited his bedroom one more time, to grab some NyQuil and to refill Ichabark's dog bowl. The dog immediately appeared from out of nowhere to devour the fresh kibble. Gabriel took a dose of the NyQuil, put it back in the medicine cabinet, then returned to his room, shutting the door once more. He spread his blanket across his bed and laid on one edge of the mattress, on top of the blanket, then he grabbed the blanket and rolled himself to the other side, effectively making himself into a fever ridden burrito.

He fell asleep soon enough, thoroughly exhausted.


	2. in which gabriel stops being sick

When Gabriel woke up, he was covered in regular sweat. His throat was absolutely killing him, and his nose was still annoyingly stuffed up. He writhed around a bit until the blanket gave way and became loose enough for him to slip out of it. He checked his phone for the time, and found that it was  **9:27** , which was actually rather late considering he went to sleep before 5 PM. Not that he was about to complain about rest.

His bladder was screaming for his attention, and his lower back was in that I-haven't-pissed-in-more-than-12-hours pain, so he strode to the bathroom and resolved to check his temperature after that.

Relieving himself didn't make his back feel better right away, but then, it never did. Something like that took an hour or so, less if you were lucky. He searched through his medicine cabinet for the cheap thermometer he had pilfered from his dad when he moved out after high school and found it hiding behind a bag of cough drops.

He set the end of it under his tongue and pressed the button, then waited for the beeps. When it was time, he pulled it out and read the little screen.  **98.7**. He punched the air in triumph, and discovered there was still more than enough soreness leftover from yesterday creeping in his bones and muscles. Exasperated would be an understatement. He rubbed the side of his neck, testing to see how swollen his lymph nodes were today. Not nearly as terrible as yesterday.

Then he had to deal with the matter of his throat. He tried to examine it himself in the mirror, but he couldn't angle his mouth and eyes and juggle the flashlight on his phone to get a really clear idea of what it looked like back there.

Moments later, he was sitting at the kitchen table, listening to the dial tone coming from his cell phone and waiting for the clinic to pick up.

"Thank you for calling St. Anthony's. Our walk-in hours are from 9 AM to 7 PM. To make an appointment, press 2. To consu-" Gabriel hung up. He went back to his room to pick out some fresh clothes. He went with black pajama pants that he figured were acceptable for wearing in public and a Noshville Bagels t-shirt. Why not advertise while he was out and about? He examined his hair in the mirror and decided it was adequate after a bit of combing. He tucked his wallet and phone into his pants pocket and slipped on some flip flops.

He patted Ichabark on the head before swiping his keys off the kitchen counter and leaving the apartment. "I'll be back before you know it, buddy."

His drive to the walk-in clinic took him just under half an hour, and there wasn't much of a line once he was inside the building. He made sure his insurance card and ID were ready before it was his turn.

"How can I help you?" The man behind the desk was somewhat nerdy looking, with short blond hair and an almost too-bright smile. His nametag read "Samandriel."

"Ah, yes," he stopped, his voice came out quiet and crackly from a lack of use. He cleared his throat. "Sorry. I think I've maybe got something viral? Sore throat, fever, stuffy nose. Everything but a cough, really."  _And thank god I don't have a cough, because my throat would probably start bleeding._

"Okay. One moment," he answered politely. "Have you received care from us before?"

"No."

"Okay. I need your name, birth date, last four of your social, address, valid phone number, and if you have insurance, proof of insurance."

"Sure thing," Gabriel rattled off all of his information. He was rather at ease, since he didn't exactly have anywhere to be at the moment.

"Thank you so much. You're checked in and ready to go, if you'll take a seat, your name should be called soon!" Samandriel clicked something and moved on to the person next in line. Gabriel took a chair in the corner and leaned back. He realized he had slept so much that he was still tired, and he had almost drifted off when his name was called.

"Gabriel Novak?" A nurse stood in the doorway between the waiting room and a long, white hallway with doors all over both sides. He rose right away and blinked away the slight dizziness that accompanied his movement. He stepped up to her and offered her a smile, following her to the back. She led him to an office and went through all the routine questions, jotting down notes. She finished checking some boxes and informed him Dr. Richings would be with him any minute.

He was alone in the room for less than 10 minutes when there was a knock on the door, a brief heads up to let him know the doctor was entering. He was tall, and his hair was black and neatly combed back. His presence seemed to demand respect and nothing less. Gabriel sat up straighter without thinking about it.

"Good morning, Mr. Novak. What brings you here today?" Gabriel ran through his symptoms hopefully for the last time that day. "I see. Hop on up here and we'll take a look at your throat," he patted the examination table, and while Gabriel moved, Dr. Richings removed an ear scope off of the wall rack and placed a new, sterile cover on it. He flipped the switch so the light was on, instructing Gabriel to open wide and say "aahh."

"Well it's very red and inflamed, and it looks like there are some pus pockets. You most likely have strep, and technically we would have to do a blood test to be entirely certain. However, I think I've done my job long enough to know that you have strep throat, and as such I'll be prescribing you some antibiotics. What pharmacy do you prefer?"

Gabriel left the clinic with a prescription. He stopped at the pharmacy between his apartment and the clinic to pick up his drugs. He waited in line for more than ten minutes, and then had to wait fifteen more for the staff to fill his prescription.

He paced around the drugstore, eyeing everything lined up on the shelves. He picked up a jar of sinus relief rub and scanned the label, despite being mostly disinterested. For once he had no desire to look at anything in the candy aisle. If water hurt his throat to swallow, he couldn't imagine what any sort of sugar would feel like.

After aimlessly wandering through the aisles of over the counters, hygiene products, and seasonal decorations, he finally heard "Prescription for Novak."

He brought himself back up to the pharmacy counter, gratefully accepted the white paper bag, and paid in quick succession. "Thankyouhaveagoodday" he rasped and left.

Back inside the safety of his own apartment, he read the instructions on the bottle. Take with a full (8 oz) glass of water every 6 hours. Do not drink alcohol or use other drugs with this medication. Gabriel sighed and looked at the clock. 11:53 AM. He reasoned that if he waited 7 minutes, he could take the first dose at noon, and then from there it would be easy enough to keep track of six hour intervals.  _As long as I don't miss a dose,_  he thought smugly. He set the bottle back on the counter with a rattle, going to Ichabark's bowl to refill it again.

He slunk to his couch with a glass of water, the pills, and his phone. He set alarms for noon, 6 PM, midnight, and 6 AM. They were set to go off every day. Gabriel leaned over, reaching for the blanket folded up on the other end of his couch. He covered himself up with it and snatched the remotes off of his semi cluttered coffee table, pressing buttons to turn the TV and the DVD player on. He relaxed and hit play when the title menu for Beetlejuice displayed itself on the screen.

His phone buzzed, playing music. He dismissed the alarm and took his first pill, and he hardly had the motivation to finish the water. His lips were papery and red from the lack of hydration, but his throat protested every sip. He watched Barbara and Adam accidentally drive themselves off of that bridge as he took pathetically small drinks from his glass.

When the glass was finally empty, he set it on the coffee table. Ichabark joined him on the couch, curling up at his feet, his belly full. Gabriel smiled at him, a small curl of one side of his mouth. Beetlejuice wasn't even halfway over when he drifted off into sleep again, still mostly upright on the sofa.

He woke up with cricks in his neck and back, tightness in his shoulders, and no less dehydrated than he was to begin with, despite drinking a glass of water before falling asleep. He didn't want to get up to get water, and he didn't want to drink water. He wondered if ibuprofen counted as "other drugs." What was he really risking, anyway?

He managed to convince himself the ibuprofen was worth getting up for. Gabriel's oven clock read  **3:49**  He poured himself another cup of water and rummaged through the medicine cabinet again. Reaching up to the shelves made his shoulders hurt more, and he was doing what he could not to say "fuck it," and return to the couch to pass out until 6.

He withdrew his hands from the cupboard with the bottle he wanted, filled his mouth with water, popped two pills, and swallowed them down with a grimace from the twinge in his throat. He needed to pee, and he was glad he'd realized this before sitting down again. He went to the bathroom and frowned at his reflection, irked about the way his hair and face always seemed to get ridiculously oily when he was sick. He laughed quietly to himself when he thought what if my body is aching because it's like a car and the oil's leaking, so now I'm running rough and inefficiently? Maybe his fever was making a comeback.

He flushed the toilet and washed his hands before dragging himself back to the living room. He put a different DVD in, and this time he laid on the couch and pulled the blanket up to his chin. This way he probably wouldn't wake up with so much added stiffness. He turned away from the TV, lying face up and sniffling. He forgot to blow his nose while he was up and moving. He huffed out a sigh before he started to fall asleep again, thinking maybe he should make an appointment with a chiropractor. He hadn't ever done that before, but he had heard good things about chiropractors. But then, the thought of someone pressing quickly and harshly on his back with the intent to crack it wasn't appealing. Gabriel decided he should definitely wait until a time when he didn't have the chills and when showers no longer felt like he was being shot repeatedly...

His alarm jerked him awake again at 6, and he begrudgingly took his next dose. The credits for the last movie he'd put on were rolling, and he considered taking a walk. He stood and stretched, and he felt like someone had just slid a knife between his ribs on the back left side. He swore and stopped stretching, moving to the front door and putting some flip flops on. He left his apartment unlocked while he went up and down the hall three times, trying to gauge exactly how he felt in those moments. He was at a bit of a loss, and his state of mind was probably too shattered to give him a true reading.

He returned inside, locking his door again. He went to the bathroom one more time, and remembered to blow his nose before going back to the living room.

"Come on, Icky," he patted his leg and used the remote to shut the TV off. Gabriel went to his bedroom, Ichabark on his heels, his collar jingling softly, breaking the silence of the otherwise empty apartment.

Three days later, he was back at work, slathering cream cheese on bagels and running the register, flitting back and forth.

"You're pretty chipper," Meg commented, covering a cinnamon bagel with strawberry cream cheese for a little girl with braids on the other side of the counter. Gabriel gave a customer their change and passed them a brown paper bag.

"Maybe because I no longer feel like I'm about to die, but actually it's probably just how warm and welcoming you always are to me," he laughed. Gabriel had free range of movement again and he felt brand new.  
"Well you know me, I love being around you for the majority of my waking hours," she quipped. "You light up my life."

"I'm touched, really." He moved over to help another woman, filling her order as hastily as he could.

"What can I get for you?" He dutifully and kindly asked her. She brushed her hair away from her face with one hand, her gaze moving from the menu to Gabriel's face.

"I'd like a wheat bagel with veggie cream cheese," she answered.

"Yes, ma'am," Gabriel nodded and took a wheat bagel out of the warming rack. He coated the insides with the requested cream cheese as his attention shifted back to Meg. "We should do a karaoke duet together or something, it would bring tears to the eyes of everyone listening. Because we have such a meaningful, deep connection."

"Yeah, they'd cry 'Please, somebody remove that short little goblin from the stage, his howling is deeply disturbing.'"

The rest of the workday passed in stride, and no amount of mealtime rush or rude customers put a damper on Gabriel's mood. He remembered he wanted to try calling a chiropractor when he arrived at home, because when he tried to remove a pot from a lower shelf, his back reminded him it wasn't quite up to speed.

He googled chiropractors in his area, and chose one with 4/5 stars. He dialed the number listed under it.

"Good afternoon, West Side Chiropractic Arts Center, how may I help you?" The woman on the line had a calm, smooth voice.

"Uh, hi, yes. I was wondering if there are any appointments available this week? And if you take new clients?"

"Yes, we do accept new clients. Do you have insurance?"

"I sure do," he replied.

He answered some more procedural questions, feeling a pattern coming on. The final question was, "What time of day works best for you?" before the receptionist ended with, "Thank you for your time, Mr. Novak. We expect to see you on Thursday at 4 PM. Have a good afternoon."

Gabriel was satisfied, because Thursday was only two days away. If he could survive the last part of today, the entirety of tomorrow, and most of Thursday, he would be in business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It hasn't even been a week and I'm updating, so I'm sticking to my promise. I actually have a plan for this story! Be impressed and proud of me. However, I edited this chapter a few separate times because for some reason all the formatting kept getting reset? So if there are things that should be italicized and they weren't, it's because I went through multiple times and gave up the last time I skimmed it. 'Cause I'm a lazy little shit.


	3. in which gabriel tries a chiropractor

Gabriel woke up on Thursday and he got ready for work as usual, showering, dressing, all that.

"Good morning, Meg," he sang, bursting through the back and coming out into the area behind the counter. He went right to the register to get his first task of the day finished.

"Have you ever wondered why they picked me to be on the morning shift?" Meg deadpanned, looking unimpressed and tired as she made sure the bagel warmer was on and ready for use.

"Nah, I've always figured it's because they know how well we work together. We're like... Batman and Robin," Gabriel guessed, counting the money in the register and making sure it matched yesterday's ending total.

"I think Batman and Robin's relationship is healthier than ours," Meg finished setting the last dozen bagels into the warmer, already sliced into halves.

"So the Joker and Harley Quinn, then? Is that what you're saying?" Gabriel shut the money drawer and signed the sheet on the clipboard next to the register, verifying the totals matched.

"If you're making a pass at me right now, then no, that's not what I'm saying." Meg grinned, hopping over the counter to start taking chairs down from the tables.

"Don't worry, you're not really what I'm looking for in a partner right now. You're too," he paused his sentence and moved to the panel of light switches on the other end of the counter.

"Too what?" Meg raised an eyebrow, suddenly more awake and interested.

"I don't think we'd really work out because I'm so obviously a man who's tough and in control, and you couldn't handle that, so I mean. Personality clash." He flipped the first two switches, lighting up the hallway with the bathrooms and cleaning supplies closet.

"Oh, yeah, Gabriel baby, you're such an alpha, I'm so aroused right now," her voice flowed languorously.

"Shut up and turn the OPEN sign on before we accidentally start banging across the cream cheese counter," Gabriel flicked the rest of the lights on. He could at least feel assured that Meg didn't take any of their joking as actual flirting, even when it seemed to border heavily on flirting. Which was most of the time.

"Do you happen to know how to get to West Side Chiropractor center of arts or whatever it's called?" Gabriel asked Meg towards the end of their shift together. "I looked it up last night and forgot to actually write down the address, not that that would help me. I prefer directions because '27th avenue northeast' means jack to me." Gabriel leaned over, one hand resting on the counter.

"You're literally like an idiot child, Gabriel." Meg freely insulted him because there was no one else around.

"Yeah, yeah, and you're the strict and mean step-mother, we've discussed this dynamic before, now please, mama, tell me how to get to the place." Gabriel straightened as the back opened again and Gadreel entered.

"It'd probably be easier for me to just lead you there, I pass it on my way home anyway. Knowing you, you'd find a way to fuck up even if I gave you explicit directions," Meg replied.

"Is that how we are supposed to talk to our coworkers?" Gadreel looked at Meg with his eyebrows raised. He was huge, but he was such a sweet guy, even Meg sort of felt guilty being mean to Gabriel, but not enough to apologize to him.

"Sorry, Gadreel. I forgot you actually respect other people, unlike me  _and_ unlike that little rat behind you."

"Oh gee, thanks for the apology. I feel very loved," Gabriel shook his head, and then Michael also appeared.

"What's going on?" Michael asked, looking back and forth between the other three.

"These two are insulting one another and using profanity. Like they usually do," Gadreel shrugged.

"Well, see you around," Meg turned to go, and Gabriel followed, muttering something like "Wait for me, you curly haired tyrant."

"Bye," Michael and Gadreel both waved. Gabriel looked back over his shoulder briefly to return the wave as he passed through the door between the front and back sections of the bagel shop. He left, quietly hissing "Why you gotta walk so fast?"

Gabriel situated himself in his car and rolled the window down. Meg was parked next to him, and she had her windows down too.

"So just follow me, I'm seriously hoping you're capable of doing that," she called to him. He didn't have time to shoot anything back at her, because she put her car in reverse as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Gabriel sighed and backed out, turning and tailing Meg across the small lot and onto the road. She turned left and went down the same street for a few blocks, took a right, and after one more block, she slowed and poked her head out the window again.

"Well, this is it. I'm just gonna head home now, I'm trusting you not to get lost."

"As always, I appreciate the vote of confidence," Gabriel answered in closing before looking out for a spot to park. Meg's car was out of sight before he was out of his vehicle.  _Chiropractors have a doctor title, so they're usually kinda old. Which I don't think I'm totally cool with, but whatever._

Gabriel strolled up to the front desk, pushing his train of thought off the tracks to greet the receptionist.

"I'm Gabriel, I think I'm scheduled for today."

"Last name?" The woman behind the counter had crystal blue eyes and jet black hair. Her tone was friendly.

"Novak," he smiled.

"Thank you," she lifted a folder off the counter. "Oh, this is your first time here. Well, you're scheduled for 4:15, and you're a little early, but that's no problem. Have a seat and we'll call your name in a bit."

"Sure thing," he gave her one last smile and went to the waiting area, idly picking up a magazine. He paged through it, skimming the articles and passing his gaze across the photos and advertisements. Rinse and repeat. He absently went through three magazines before the same lady who helped him check in said "Gabriel?"

He rose and she led him to the back, opening a door and motioning for him to go in. "He'll be with you in a moment," she closed the door and he hesitantly took a seat on the backless bench, eyeing the death-trap-torture device in the center of the room. To his left, there was a desk with a laptop, clipboard, and a rolling chair. He took a few deep breaths and thought about how irrational it was to be nervous about this. Plenty of people go to chiropractors and he had yet to hear about anyone dying because of it. His eyes swept the room again, dismissing the certificates hanging from the wall to examine the table in the corner. There was a machine and maybe something like electrodes connected to it? He couldn't tell, and it didn't do anything to help his nerves. He closed his eyes, refocusing.

The door opened, and a giant of a man came inside. He wasn't old or in a lab coat or anything like Gabriel had expected. Actually, he was really young, now that Gabriel looked closer. He was wearing casual professional clothes, a dark blue button down with the sleeves rolled to his elbows and black dress pants. His hair was longer than what people normally considered professional, and he couldn't totally stop himself from thinking of Dr. Sexy. Who knew real doctors could be attractive? All of these observations and questions passed through Gabriel's brain pretty rapidly, and he snapped out of it quickly when a hand was offered to him with the words "Mr. Novak, nice to meet you, I'm Sam Winchester."

"You can call me Gabriel," he accepted Sam's hand and gave it a firm shake, a grin sprouting on his face.

"So, what's troubling you?" Sam had taken a seat in the rolling chair and had a pen poised to write notes on his clipboard.

"Well, my dog likes to chew on my belongings, my coworker, whom I share a shift with, is almost definitely satan's daughter, and also I was really sick last week and I fell asleep in a lot of weird positions so now my back is pissed off at me."

Sam beamed at Gabriel after the initial expression of disbelief from Gabriel's first problems off, and then he nodded. "Most people come here because of back pain. Where exactly is it bothering you?"

"Oh, right," Gabriel twisted so Sam could see his back. Since his dumb joke hadn't made Sam actually laugh, he decided his mission was to make him laugh for real before the appointment ended. "Right here for sure," he reached a hand over the opposite shoulder and put it between his shoulder blades. "But sometimes it's around my shoulders, and I have some on the lower right. Kind of just below my rib cage." He went back to a regular sitting position while Sam finished scrawling on his clipboard.

"Those are all pretty common areas people come in for. How long has this bothered you?"

"Pretty much just the last week. I can't really think of anything prior to this week."

"Okay. Well, I'll have you step so you're facing this," he stood up and held his hand out, presenting the intimidating looking table for Gabriel. "I promise, it's not as awful as it looks." Gabriel stepped forward confidently. "Now, I'm just going to lower it, and it'll go down slowly, and I just want you to relax. I know that can be kind of difficult for most people the first time." Sam's voice was almost shockingly soothing.

Gabriel let himself lean against the table as it began its descent into a horizontal position. It stopped; he was flat on the table, his face squished between two cushions, and his forearms on the designated rests below the headrest. He used some self control to take a breath and let a majority of the tension escape his body, and he felt Sam's hand covering the center middle of his back, pressing down lightly. The heat of Sam's hand was seeping through the fabric of Gabriel's t-shirt.

Then his hand was gone, and a few seconds later it was replaced with something blockier. Gabriel heard the flip of a switch, and then he thought of a car buffer, because whatever Sam had on his back was vibrating and rotating, and Sam was running it from his tailbone to the base of his neck, and around his shoulder blades and ribs. Sam shut it off and returned it to wherever he had retrieved it from before putting his hands on Gabriel's back again.

Sam started asking Gabriel something about where he worked, and Gabriel was about to answer when suddenly the pressure increased sharply and rapidly, and then it was gone and Gabriel's back had made some cracks and pops in a couple different places. That was an effective enough distraction. The other places on his back were done without Sam talking, and Gabriel wasn't about to open his mouth to answer.

"If you could turn over onto your back, that would be perfect," Sam directed him. "And you never got to say where you work."

"Well I didn't think it would've come out very clearly while you were doing all that. I work at a bagel shop a few blocks from here," he repositioned himself onto his back, looking up at the ceiling. Sam rolled his chair behind the table, so he was at Gabriel's head.

"Oh, I think I know which one you're talking about. I haven't been there much, and when I have gone, it's always after work and it's because I'm too tired to make a proper dinner," the entire time he had been speaking, he had Gabriel's head in his hands, carefully and slowly moving it to Gabriel's left, and then he jerked just right, and another set of cracks sounded through the room.  _Jesus he's good at this._ "So, do you enjoy working there?" Sam began shifting Gabriel's head to the left.

"It has its perks, like insurance, and I get to smell like a bagel most of the time. It's better than some of the places I've worked."

"Yeah? I know I had some not-so great jobs while going through college," he cracked the other side. Gabriel was extremely at ease. "But it seemed like customer service was not high on my list of favorites."

"It's not so bad. Really, the person I work with is much ruder than any customer I can possibly imagine." Gabriel's tone made it clear he said it with affection.

"What's so bad about this coworker of yours?" His hands were no longer on any part of Gabriel, and he wasn't moving anymore.

"Oh, we go back and forth. It's a lot of mutual bullying. We've worked together for three years now." Gabriel tilted his head back to try and see Sam's face, but Sam was standing up again.

"In that case, I'm sure you two are pretty good friends. Do you ever have any problems with your hips?" Sam moved to stand to the left of Gabriel.

"What?"

"Do you feel crooked when you walk, do you keep things in your back pockets while you're sitting down, do you generally sleep with your hips twisted in any sort of unnatural way?"

"I'm not really sure how I sleep. I don't think many people have seen me sleep, and anyone that has hasn't bothered to report that to me. Has anyone ever farted while you were cracking their back?"

"What?" Sam's shoulders shook subtly and that same sunny smile started to split his face again.

"Nothing. You could check them out if you'd like, but I can't really say I have any known problems with them." Gabriel silently whooped in triumph; he was pretty sure his appointment was coming to a close, so Sam's soundless laugh was going to have to do.

"Alright, well, flip over onto your left side," Sam instructed. Gabriel did as he was asked. Sam gently took hold of Gabriel's wrists and crossed Gabriel's arms in front of his torso, so he was hugging himself. He lifted up Gabriel's right leg and bent it 45 degrees at the knee, setting it on top of his left leg. Then he leaned over and covered most of Gabriel's lower body with his own body and pressed down until his hip popped. "That's not bad. Now we'll just do the other side to make sure you're even."

"And now for the last time, back on your stomach." Sam told Gabriel once he finished adjusting his hips. Gabriel moved over again.

"This is the most physical activity I've done in a while," he joked before putting his face back between the cushions. He was plenty active during the work week, considering he was almost constantly on his feet at work.

"Have you ever considered yoga?"

"Not really, no." Gabriel admitted truthfully.

"Fair enough. Maybe some other time," Sam was audibly moving things on the table with the only other frightening-looking object in the room. He lifted up the back of Gabriel's shirt and set something cool and somewhat gel-like in texture on the bare skin of his back, and in the end, he thought he had about six of them. Three on each side of his back, below his ribs, right in the middle, and towards the tops of his shoulder blades. Gabriel's uneasiness took on a physical form, and his muscles all tightened, unsure what to expect.

"Tell me when," Sam said evenly, pressing a button. A soft thrum started in the gel pads attached to Gabriel's back, hardly noticeable.  _Alright, that's not so bad._  Sam tapped the button, and the intensity went up slightly. He pressed it four more times before a quiet grunt made its way out of Gabriel's mouth, and he stopped.

"Usually that's a good indication it's at the right level, or a little too high. How are you feeling?"

"This is good," Gabriel nodded as best as he could; he was still quite tense from his uncertain anticipation.

"Okay, well, the receptionist will be back to remove these when the timer's up. I will be scheduling you for one more session in about three weeks just to see where you're at, and if you're doing fine, just call in and cancel it at least 24 hours ahead of time. It was nice to meet you, Gabriel."

"Nice meeting you, too," Gabriel let himself relax after the door closed again. The pads on his back tingled, and he enjoyed it more after he stopped trying to lay rigid and stiff. He wasn't sure how long he was laying there when the timer started to go off and the tingling stopped. The door opened and the same blue eyed lady entered and detached the pads from his back. Gabriel got up after they were off of his back and she hit the button to make the table return to its original vertical position. He marveled at how much  _taller_  he felt and how new his back felt. Was this how your back was supposed to feel regularly?

She took the papers with Sam's handwritten notes off of the desk and led him back to the front of the clinic.

"That will be twenty dollars," she informed him, reclaiming her seat behind the front desk. She accepted his card and swiped it. "Dr. Winchester would like to schedule one more follow up appointment, will the second Monday of next month at 5 work for you?"

"That should be fine," Gabriel nodded enthusiastically, wondering if he would feel this great after the second time.

"Fantastic, we'll see you next time, Mr. Novak," she smiled and Gabriel mock saluted her before leaving.


	4. in which gabriel cheats on meg

Gabriel's cell phone rang while he was in the elevator, heading back to his apartment after his workday. It had been a week since his first chiropractor visit. He dug around his pockets, forgetting which one he had last put it in, and he finally pulled it out.

"Cas!" He yelled after sliding to answer the call. "It's been a while."

"Yeah, seven months is what most might call a while." Castiel answered, his tone not totally readable, but suggestive of weariness.

"So, what's hanging?" Gabriel fumbled with the keys to his apartment while he made his way down the hall. He didn't press Castiel about the span of time between their last talk and now.

"Not a whole lot, I just thought I would let you know that I'll be in the area tomorrow, if you want to maybe get food and catch up?" Castiel must have started letting a smile grow on his face, because it seeped into his words, infecting Gabriel's already bright expression.

"You're calling to tell me this one day in advance? Surprises aren't like you," Gabriel loved his cousin, and he was always up for talking to him. He had nearly forgotten how much he missed talking to him, actually.

"I was going to just show up at your apartment, but I can never remember your work schedule. I didn't want to risk being left with no choice but to loiter in the hall, so I thought it would be wise to call and line up a time."

"You're not wrong," Gabriel dropped his keys on the kitchen counter and went to sprawl out on the couch. He could take up a lot of room for being a relatively small person.

"Are you busy tomorrow?"

"I've got work until 3, but I'm open after that. I don't work until noon on Saturday, so we could stay out a bit late and it wouldn't make me any worse at my job than I already am."

"Would it be any trouble if I stayed for a few nights?"

"Never. That's never an issue, Cassie."

"Thank you, Gabriel."

"Uh huh. Now about tomorrow, I never got the chance to bring you to the Silver Cup Cafe down town, and they've got the best donuts I've ever eaten. Do you want to maybe go there, or are you thinking we should get dinner?" Gabriel flipped over on the couch, reaching a hand towards Ichabark, lightly rubbing the top of the dog's head and behind his ears.

"Whichever suits you, I don't care one way or the other," Castiel sounded like he was content with the way everything fell back into place, the way they were picking up where they left off. He really didn't mind what or where they planned to eat.

"Okay, how about we meet when I get off, we go eat donuts at the Silver Cup, and then we can do whatever for a while. Anything you want to do. Then we can come back to my place and we'll order takeout from that Thai place you love when we get hungry," Gabriel spewed this plan out after a short moment of thought.

"Sounds perfect," Cas replied. "And you said you're off at 3, right?"

"Yep. Do you remember how to get to the bagel store?"

"I do."

"Great. Any other surprises you wanna throw at me?"

"None that can't wait for tomorrow."

"So there is more up your sleeve?"

"I guess you'll have to wait and see," Castiel laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow, Gabriel."

"Copy that," Gabriel waited for the click on Cas's end before laying his phone on the coffee table. Castiel was alive and well, from what Gabriel gathered during their short phone call.

* * *

"You were really watching the clock today," Meg remarked as she and Gabriel hung up their aprons.

"Yeah, my favorite cousin is meeting me after work," Gabriel gave her a straight answer for once.

"Is that code for your mistress? Gabriel, baby, I thought I was the one. I thought we had something special," she punched his arm.

"Sorry, sweet cheeks, I've found someone else," he went with it as they passed through the door. He didn't notice Castiel, waiting next to his car.

"How could you? I trusted you."

"Don't be so trusting nex-" Gabriel cut his sentence short to throw himself at Castiel.

"Hi, Meg," Cas called, waving his arm as best as he could with his golden haired cousin hanging onto him. He smiled sheepishly. "You should know by now that Gabriel isn't to be trusted with anything."

"I guess I never learn," she returned his smile. Gabriel straightened up, releasing Cas from the hug. He looked at Meg, preparing another joke, and then he saw the expression she was making at Castiel. She hardly ever looked at anyone like that; her expression was less guarded and almost soft. Gabriel decided, if nothing else, it would be fun to see Meg get flustered. He nudged Cas.

"I know this might be shocking, but I think the demon queen wants a hug. Who knew she could crave human affection?" Gabriel grinned, and bit back a laugh as Cas awkwardly stepped towards Meg, his arms comically open. Meg rolled her eyes at Gabriel and let herself fall into the hug.

"You're a moron, Gabriel." Meg said over Cas' shoulder. Gabriel put a hand over his heart and made a mock dreamy-face at her. Cas and Meg's embrace was a short one, and he came away with pink cheeks. Meg flipped Gabriel off before getting into her car.

"I'll see you losers later," she called once her window was rolled down and the engine was started.

"See ya later, schnookums!" Gabriel waved and then brought his attention back to his dark haired cousin. "So, how about we just take my car from here to the cafe, and then we'll swing back here after that, and you can follow me back to the apartment?"

"Sounds good to me," Cas nodded. Gabriel unlocked his car to let himself and Cas in.

"Did you have lunch today?"

"When would I have stopped for lunch?"

"Oh, I dunno, at some point during your drive down here."

"There aren't a lot of places between here and Manhattan worth stopping to eat at, you know that. I wasn't really hungry anyway, I had a big breakfast and it was later than normal."

"Yeah? What'd you eat?"

"...Cereal and toast." Cas finally answered.

"Seriously? God, Cas, you're so uncultured. You've got the world in your hands up in New York and you eat cereal and toast for breakfast and claim it was big?" Gabriel stopped at the red light.

"Well, maybe if I had you to cook for me or bring me to places with good breakfast, I'd expand my horizons on that front."

"You're probably right about that." Gabriel agreed and parallel parked on the street, as close as he could get to the cafe. "We're here," he shot another smile to Cas.

"Yippee," he said in a rather unenthusiastic manner.

"Come on, Eeyore, let's get you some donuts and an ice cream topped with espresso," Gabriel climbed out of the car and waited for Castiel to join him. He locked the doors when Castiel shut his, and then they entered the cafe together, and they were promptly greeted with the warm smell of pastries and fresh coffee. Gabriel sidled up to the counter; there was no line at 3:28 in the afternoon, and the only other person was by herself at a table, earbuds in her ears and a laptop opened in front of her. Cas scanned the menu, standing slightly behind and to the side of his older cousin.

"What can I get for you?" The red headed, young lady behind the register inquired sweetly.

"Two chocolate donuts and two maple nut donuts," Gabriel started, pausing to think and to allow the woman to write down what he'd said so far. "And a medium dish of mocha chip topped with a shot of espresso, and two cheer-up teas." He turned to Cas. "Anything else you see that you'd like?"

"Uh," he gave the menu a final once-over. "No, I trust your judgement in this area."

"Okay," Gabriel faced the woman again.

"That'll be fourteen dollars and thirty-two cents," she handed Gabriel a plastic stand marked "18," to signify their order number.

"Keep the change," Gabriel passed her a twenty dollar bill. "Where should we sit?"

"The table by the window seems nice," Cas looked at a table near the front door, the small kind with two chairs, one on each side. They seated themselves at the tiny table.

"So, how's life?" Gabriel looked intently at his cousin.

"Where to begin," Cas' face came up in a half smile. "Busy. Maybe a little exhausting sometimes. But not bad."

"Yeah? So the job's working out for you?" Gabriel looked half worried.

"The job is great, I love it, honestly." Cas' expression shifted just so, and Gabriel couldn't quite read it. "It really does keep me occupied for most of the time, and I think that's a good thing. I enjoy it. It's just other aspects sort of get in the way of my mood, I guess."

"Like what?" Gabriel didn't hide his concern, and he had put away his usual joking and jeering, playful manner of speaking for the time being.

"I don't know, I think I just feel lonely. New York's a big city, and I'm just one comparatively tiny person."

"Yikes, Cas, are you hitting a midlife crisis?"

"I'm younger than you, and you're only 27. I don't think I'm really entitled to a midlife crisis yet."

"Yeah, but you kinda are. You're 24 and you're operating a business you started. Not only do I actually respect that, but that's a pretty good place to be at your age."

"So you're jumping from 'midlife crisis' to 'wow you're practically a baby still, be proud of yourself and your accomplishments?'"

"Pretty much, yeah. You got me," Gabriel smiled. "Okay, so I know with you opening your flower shop and apparently doing most of the work by yourself you've been crazy amounts of busy, and that's why we had such a long lull between talking, but if you were starting to feel like you didn't have anyone, you could've called me sooner."

"I know, Gabriel. But I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to acknowledge that I was feeling less than myself, and I didn't want to tell you I felt lonesome because that's for losers."

"Jesus, Cas, you think only losers feel lonely? As much as I hate to admit it, everyone feels lonely sometimes," he sighed dramatically. "And yes, that includes your badass older cousin." Gabriel looked up as a server appeared and set down trays full of sweets between himself and Castiel.

"Can I get you anything else?"

"No, this looks perfect, thanks," Gabriel answered kindly, returning his attention to Cas when the server returned to the kitchen. Cas took one of the teacups, wrapping his hands around the cup. He sniffed at it before drawing in a sip. Gabriel reached for one of the chocolate donuts and waited for Cas to speak again.

"Now that I'm here with you, I'm not dying to get back to New York. It's a relief just being here, away from that for a while."

"Speaking of, how long did you manage to ditch your job for? Because, believe me, I would love for you to just move in with me and stick around til you feel better, but I know you can't do that."

"I've got the next two weeks off," he said after another sip of tea. "Of course, I don't have to impose on you the entire time."

"Impose? Shut up, Cas. You're never a nuisance," Gabriel said around a mouthful of donut. He swallowed. "Two weeks, huh? That's a good amount of time. Maybe we actually can get you back into balance before duty calls and you gotta head back north."

"I'm hoping so. I just finished training two employees to take care of things while I'm here. I left my number with them if they had any problems they couldn't solve on their own."

"One more thing before we retire this conversation for now, and this is damn near excruciating for me to tell you, but if you need someone besides me to talk to, Meg is honestly not a bad person to go to." Gabriel took a drink of his tea and started scooping some of the ice cream onto his spoon.

"I'll consider it," Cas replied, finishing the last bite of his donut.

They talked about the flower shop and the bagel shop, swapping stories about bizarre customers and laughing again, eating the rest of the ice cream in the dish. The server brought them a box for the leftover donuts.

"So I'm realizing that I was really sick not too long ago, and I took two days off, so I've gotta check to see what I've got left for time off," Gabriel explained to Cas after they were situated in the car. "Because there's no way I'm gonna let you stay here for two weeks while I work for twelve of the fourteen days you're around."

"I can entertain myself while you're working, you know."

"That's gross, Cas, and I don't need to hear it," Gabriel deadpanned.

"Oh my god, that isn't at all what I meant," Cas looked horrified with a side of offended.

"Sure it wasn't," he smiled this time. "But seriously, we need to make a plan for you just in case I don't get as many days off as I'd like."

"Gabriel, my car will be readily available to me while you're at work. I can go look around the city and I can go to a library or a park. I'm not a child."

"I know, but I feel like I'm failing you as a cousin to just say 'I'm going to work, you're an adult, and you're on your own, so go wild,' when I can make an attempt to see that you're not bored as balls. Speaking of which, is there anything you want to do right now, or do you just want to head back to the apartment for the rest of the day?"

"We can just go back for today. I'm kind of tired."

He and Gabriel planned out a tentative schedule of things for him to do for the first week if Gabriel had no luck getting time off before they arrived back at the bagel shop to pick up Cas' car. Gabriel drove in front of Cas on the way to the apartment complex.

"Oh, shit," Gabriel quietly cursed as he closed the apartment door behind himself and Castiel.

"What's the matter?"

"I don't know if I'll be able to find the air mattress or the pump for it. And I'm not letting you sleep on the couch, so you can take my bed. The sheets are still relatively clean, I made sure to wash them when I started feeling less sick."

"That's not necessary, I don't need to take your bed from you."

"Cas, just sleep in my bed. You're taller than me, so the couch probably wouldn't be an ideal place for you to sleep for multiple, consecutive nights," Gabriel crossed through the kitchen and into the main room, sinking into the couch. "Do you want to watch a movie or something?"

"Whatever's fine with me," Cas answered, taking the other side of the couch. They settled on a tv show and more discussions, and it went on for a few hours. It paused when Cas' stomach growled.

"Time to order food?" Gabriel peered at his cousin.

"I think so," Cas admitted.

"You still like pad si u, right? Or did your favorite dish change?"

"That sounds delicious, but I'm kind of craving curry."

"Gimme a minute, I have a menu somewhere," Gabriel rose from the couch and went to the kitchen, moving things on the counter and digging through his junk drawer. He triumphantly pulled a crumpled tri-folded paper menu out of the drawer and went back to the sofa. "It's a bit beat up, but here's a menu."

"Thanks," Cas accepted the proffered menu and carefully unfolded it, trying not to further wreck it. After a few minutes, he spoke again. "I'll order the massaman curry."

"Nice. I'm just gonna get ginger duck," Gabriel distractedly dialed the Thai place's number and held the phone up to his ear. "Hi, I would like to make an order to-go." There was a brief moment of silence. "I need one massaman curry and one order of the roast duck with ginger and orange," another pause. "A spider roll and some spring rolls, and two sides of rice. That should be everything." Quiet. "Perfect, I'm in apartment 7E at Correl Towers on Morrissey Boulevard." He hung up and set the phone back on the arm of the couch.

"They said the food should be here in 35 minutes," he informed Cas.

Once their delivery arrived and they had eaten to their bellies' content, they moved back to the matter of sleeping arrangements.

"No, really, Cas, just take my bed. I don't care if I sleep on the couch. Besides, if it screws up my back, it's not a big deal. I'm going to the chiropractor on Thursday."

"The chiropractor?"

"I forgot to tell you that while I was sick I made some poor choices regarding where and how I slept, so I ended up with some bad mojo in my back. I went to the chiropractor, and he told me he wanted to check me out again just to make sure everything's still in normal, working order. No biggie," Gabriel shut the TV off and picked up the leftover food. He brought it into the kitchen and set it neatly in the fridge.

"Leftover donuts and Thai for breakfast sound good to you?" Gabriel strolled through the living room and motioned for Cas to follow him.

"No complaints here," Cas responded easily, a few steps behind Gabriel.

"Fantastic. I've got toothpaste in the bathroom in the mirror cabinet. I'm gonna go grab a blanket out of the closet in my room for myself, and if you need anything else, let me know," Gabriel started to walk off and then he stopped and turned around again. "Where's your suitcase?"

"I forgot to grab it out of the trunk before I came in, I'll go get it," Cas went back through the apartment and returned ten minutes later, brown duffle bag in hand. Gabriel had thrown a blanket over the couch and some pillows, and he had brushed his teeth in the time Cas was gone. Cas set his duffle on the bathroom counter and unzipped it, reaching in and withdrawing a plastic zip lock bag of toiletries.

"Good night, Cas. I'll be on the couch if you need anything. There's an outlet just to the side of the nightstand in my room if you wanna charge your phone."

"Thanks, Gabriel."

"No problemo," he lightly smacked Cas on the upper arm and went to the living room. Once the bathroom sink taps shut off and Cas was settled into Gabriel's bed, the flat was virtually silent. They fell asleep, and it wasn't quite 11 PM yet.

Morning came, and Gabriel rolled off the couch at eight at the request of his alarm. "Why do I do this to myself," he muttered, shutting off his alarm and going into the bathroom. He locked the door, though it was a bit weird to do so. Honestly, it was out of the ordinary for him to even bother closing the door for a shower. But Cas was here, and he didn't need to expose himself like that.

He hummed to himself as he soaped up and rinsed off, and he planned out the best way to ask Raphael for time off while he washed his face. When the last traces of soap were rinsed away, he shut the water off and grabbed a towel. He patted his body dry and froze as he was reaching for the doorknob. He didn't have the foresight the previous evening to grab clean work clothes from his room.

Gabriel scowled and wrapped his towel around his waist before letting himself out of the bathroom and into his own bedroom, tiptoeing through his open bedroom door. He was a little bit grateful that Cas didn't close or lock the door. He crept through his room and opened his dresser drawers as slowly as he could, collecting the necessary clothing for the day. He slipped back out of his room with clothes draped over his forearm, the other hand gripping his towel.

He closed himself back in the bathroom and pulled his fresh clothes on. He finger combed his hair back and away from his face and used a spritz of cologne.

While he started a pot of coffee, he debated whether or not he should wake Cas up to eat breakfast with him before he went to work, and ultimately decided Cas could always go back to bed after the apartment was empty again.

"Cas," Gabriel shook his sleeping cousin. "Come eat breakfast with me. Then I'll be out of your hair for a while and you can do whatever you want to do." Cas woke up gradually. "Come on," Gabriel shook him again.

"I'm getting up," he rasped, sitting up sluggishly. He swung his feet over the side of the bed and joined Gabriel in the kitchen, where they microwaved last night's dinner and munched on the two remaining donuts.

"You can go back to sleep when I leave, if you want. I'm off at four today, so make sure you're fully clothed by 4:30 at the very latest."

"Honestly, Gabriel, I'm not going to-"

"Shh, shh, it's okay, we all do it. It's a natural, normal thing," Gabriel grinned. "But really, I'll see you after work. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Right," Cas murmured. "See you then."


End file.
